SA’s developers are making games that are bold, diverse and globally recognised — and with new investment and international attention, the state’s next chapter is already loading.
When Adelaide-based studio Team Cherry launched Hollow Knight: Silksong, it crashed Steam – the world’s largest PC gaming platform – and became a global sensation for the three-person team.
The sequel to their 2017 indie hit Hollow Knight was already the most wish-listed game in Steam history, with over five million fans waiting to play – and on launch night, more than half a million jumped in at once.
It was the kind of record-breaking moment most studios only dream about – and it all started right here in South Australia.
But Silksong is only one part of SA’s gaming scene. Across Adelaide and beyond, indie studios are building everything from dark horror to feel-good adventures, showing just how much range – and heart – our game-dev industry has to offer the world.
Why it’s game on
The latest stats are in – 82 per cent of us play, the average player is 35, and as of 2025, just over half are women.
Behind that passion sits a thriving local industry that punches well above its weight.
Australian studios generate around $339 million a year, employ more than 2,400 people, and earn 93 per cent of their revenue from overseas – proof that our games don’t just connect at home, but around the world.
And with 11 per cent of the nation’s developers based in South Australia, local creators are helping shape that success – making games as diverse and creative as the people who play them.
And this year, South Australia’s game makers took their creativity to the global stage.
From Adelaide to the world
Just weeks before Silksong’s release, South Australia’s gaming community made its mark at Gamescom 2025 – the world’s biggest gaming convention, where six local studios showcased their work as part of the South Australian Film Corporation’s (SAFC) SA delegation, presented in partnership with Interactive Games and Entertainment Association (IGEA) and supported by Create SA.
The SA showcase featured everything from heartfelt life sims and story-driven adventures to horror, comedy, puzzle and VR action games – proof of just how varied the local scene has become. And even beyond the official stand, South Australians were making global noise.
When Adelaide’s own Team Cherry announced Silksong’s long-awaited release date, it became one of the biggest reveals of the entire event – shining an extra spotlight on the state’s thriving games scene.
Among the SA contingent was Bad Plan Studios, the Adelaide indie behind upcoming horror-comedy roguelite End of Ember.
Co-founder Chad Habel says the experience was “absolutely enormous – the scale, the atmosphere, the learning. It was incredible just to see our game sitting alongside titles we’ve admired for years.”
That momentum has kept building, with End of Ember recently selected for the Games Showcase at SXSW Sydney – one of nine South Australian titles featured in the Showcase, highlighting the strength and diversity of the state’s developers.
The delegation met publishers, pitched their games, and – perhaps most importantly – got noticed.
“It’s one thing to make a game,” Chad says. “It’s another to have people on the other side of the world laughing and reacting to it in real time.”
A hellishly good time
If Silksong was all precision and polish, Bad Plan Studios’ End of Ember is the chaotic cousin who shows up to the family barbecue covered in fake blood and stickers.
“Cute but gory” is how Chad describes it. You are Ember, a sweet girl who finds herself sent to Hell on her birthday. With nothing but a chainsaw for a companion, you explore grotesque dungeons and face off against the vile denizens of the Underworld.
And while it’s still in development, players can already jump in – the free playtest version is live on Steam, giving fans an early taste of its high-action, highly-addictive cartoon chaos.
It’s a project built on pure indie grit, developed between jobs, families and deadlines. “We all have kids, day jobs, and a lot of coffee,” Chad says. “But that’s the beauty of it. The game exists because we love making it.”
The studio behind End of Ember is as unconventional as the game itself – comic artist Daniel McGuiness, educator Chad, who heads graduate programs at the Academy of Interactive Entertainment, and Eliah Smith, a programmer who codes, drives and plays using only his feet. “He’s incredible,” Chad says. “He’s proof that creativity always finds a way.”
Rewriting the rules of the game
If Chad and his team represent the DIY, art-meets-chaos energy of SA’s indie scene, Onnie Chan is ensuring the next wave of developers has even more perspectives, stories, and styles to bring to the table.
A creative technologist and founder of Women in Creative Technologies (WiCT) and Power Her Up, Onnie is on a mission to level up women’s participation and leadership in tech and gaming.
She’s already been recognised by the Women in Innovation Awards 2024, and this year won the Individual Community Impact Award at the SA Game Industry Awards.
“When I studied my Masters in Immersive Media Technologies at the University of Adelaide, all my lecturers were men,” she says. “So I started a club where women could teach each other the software and coding we weren’t being taught.”
That student club became WiCT – a not-for-profit that now runs workshops, mentoring and events for women in tech. Its latest initiative, Power Her Up, helps women turn ideas into action through mentoring, skill-building and a growing online community.
And true to her word, Onnie isn’t just talking about change – she’s coding it. Her latest project is a VR game for adults with ADHD, designed to support focus, time management and emotional regulation through play.
“I’m building something that can help people like me,” she says. “There are so many talented women who just need the chance to show what they can do. Diversity doesn’t just make the industry fairer – it makes it more creative.”
A space to play
Despite more women studying and working in tech, Onnie says there’s still a long way to go before true equity is achieved.
“There are more women in the industry now, but not enough in leadership positions,” she says. “That’s why we’re saying: don’t just fit in – build your own space.”
“Real innovation comes from different perspectives,” she says. “If men keep making the same kinds of games, they end up in an echo chamber. We need women’s voices, non-binary voices, neurodivergent voices – everyone.”
She laughs when she recalls reminding developers that the first computer programmer in history was Ada Lovelace – a woman. “Coding was literally invented by a woman! So if she could do it 200 years ago, we can definitely do it now.”
Built on creativity, powered by community
Both Onnie and Chad agree that Adelaide’s close-knit creative culture is what makes it such a good place to build games.
“When I came here, I was blown away by how friendly and supportive the community is,” Onnie says. “It’s like a family – when the parents are busy, the siblings look after each other.”
That family now spans everyone from indie startups to internationally acclaimed studios – all part of a sector that’s growing fast and finding its place on the global map.
With breakout hits, new studios and an expanding network of developers and advocates, South Australia’s gaming industry is set to keep growing – and innovating.
The SAFC’s support of the video game sector spans everything from the SA Video Game Development (VGD) Rebate to the annual SAGE: SA Game Exhibition to travel support to attend conferences like Gamescom, helping local talent thrive at every stage.
That support just expanded again, with the launch of the SAFC’s new Digital Games Fund – a $100,000 pilot program offering grants of up to $100,000 to help local studios develop original, innovative projects and grow their businesses. It’s designed to bridge the gap between early-stage ideas and global-ready games, strengthening South Australia’s reputation as a creative powerhouse.
It’s all part of a bigger picture that includes the energy of South Australia’s grassroots creators and community leaders – the people whose passion is turning the state into one of Australia’s most exciting, and most inclusive, creative tech hubs.
“Games are art,” Chad says. “They can be funny, scary, emotional or weird. The more voices we have making them, the better they get.”
Or, as Onnie puts it: “We’re not just making games. We’re building worlds – and everyone deserves a place in them.”
Find out more about South Australia’s video game creatives here.
